Annarasumanara (Review)

안나라수마나라 (Annarasumanara) by 하일권 (Ha Il-kwon)

“Do you believe in magic?”

SYNOPSIS:A rumor goes around school about an abandoned amusement park and a magician who lives there that can make someone disappear for good. Yoon Ai, a very smart girl in her class, struggles to feed herself and her sister everyday. She just wants to become an adult faster so that she can escape from the poverty and the reality of her current situation. One day, her life changes as she meets a childish magician who asks her: “Do you believe in magic?”

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I have been into Korean webtoons these days right after I got obsessed with Noblesse. They are officially translated into English though there aren’t a lot of them on Line. Each manhwa is updated every week on the said website, though I believe they are not translated immediately compared to some other online manga sites. In fact, this webtoon, Annarasumanara that I am about to review, has only been completed recently on Line though it was already published on Naver way back in 2010. Now moving on to the webtoon, I must say that it is not your typical story. The story mainly focuses on true-to-life situations especially in the phases of childhood and adulthood. It addresses the stress and pressure that most people experience just to be able to fit in the society, disregarding their own dreams and happiness just to comply with the norm. It also reflects how most people tend to discriminate and judge others who are different from their standards. The message it conveys to its readers is priceless, as it teaches them to reach for their dreams to achieve true happiness and to not let others dictate what they must do. Each character is in a realistic situation that would most likely resemble someone else’s state. As for the art style, I think it is much better than the author’s style in God of Bath. Considering its genre, it’s understandable why the art in the said webtoon looks more eccentric (if I may say) than in Annarasumanara where the story is on a much more serious note. Unfortunately though, it is not colored unlike most webtoons. But that doesn’t matter that much because the art alone is striking enough. If I have any complaints about it, that would most certainly be the ending. I mean, the story only has 27 chapters which I think is too short. (I wanted more! T.T) On the other hand, I think the author gave the story a beautiful ending even though there were still a few more questions that were left unanswered. But the invitation at the end of the chapter was enough to wrap things up. It maintained its mysterious feel to it up until the last part. It is definitely a must-read story.